Miss Monday

What lies behind closed doors? Or what lurks in the deepest and darkest reaches of our souls? This is exactly what MISS MONDAY tries to explore; the guinea pig? A ‘high flying' executive named Gloria, played by the very able Andrea Hart.

After the initial preliminaries, the movie finally kicks off, as a screenwriter (James Hicks) finds himself fumbling for words and inspiration to depict a leading character (Marianne) of his script. Hence, on the advice of his mentor, Hicks decides to actually ‘observe' a real-life person resembling his script-character, whom he feels could inspire him into writing his ‘Marianne' with much less difficulty.

So, the screenwriter decides to become a scientist and sneaks his way into Miss. Gloria's abode to study his subject and learn her ways and mannerisms. Until this point the script looks goofy and awkward. But then we get to see one of the finest acting performances by Andrea Hart, as she unfolds the middle-aged, single, ambitious executive Miss. Gloria's inner sanctum, which is otiose, dismal and sorry; much in contradiction to her alter persona that the outside world is conversant with.

Hart's brilliant acting performance comes in during the time when the movie is almost dialogue-less. The way she limns the disturbed and insecure side of an otherwise uncompromising and demanding woman, is scary, especially because it is so lifelike. Forget the direction, forget the script, forget the supporting cast; MISS MONDAY is all about Hart's memorable performance, cap-a-pie.

MISS MONDAY is truly indie. Though the story seems unrealistic, the direction and the performance are natural. There is nothing flashy about MISS MONDAY. With everything else restricted to the bare minimum, the movie is left in the hands of the performance of the cast, especially that of Andrea Hart. Andrea delivers, and delivers generously. Watch the movie and be shocked and spellbound, alike.

RATING: 8/10

A tasteful resurrection of a lost generation of Progressive Independent Filmmakers and Storyliners who realise the importance of fusion in all aspects of Film-making systems. Comedy clashes with Self-Inflicted Cruelty. A thinking flick designed to manufacture further meditation on the subject matter. Who are these guys and when do I get to see this Film again? (Only showing in Hawaii: Hawaii International Spring Film Festival) Aloha

"Miss Monday" tells of a screenwriter (Hicks) wrestling with his script. Unable to get into the character of his female lead he researches her by stalking a randomly selected yuppie woman (Hart) and gets more than he bargained for. The film begins as a shoddy comedy/lite-drama with poor flow and too many nonsequiturs and then turns into a dark and disturbing drama leaving us to wonder if Lee is a genius or simply got lucky. Regardless, this little low budget British indie gets off to a slow start but pays off for those who hang in there. Kudos to Hart whose performance makes the film.

Finally, in a period of crisis for filmmaking, a director who knows how to handle his subject perfectly. My personal favourite for 1998 (so far).

Strongly and admittedly influenced by Polanski, the writer-- in this film featuring the writer of a film featuring the writer of a film-- enters an abject little world fraught with the possibility of violent confrontation at any moment. He is following a wise-sounding credo that tells him that by deeply portraying the individual he will reveal the type (but try to portray the type and you will reveal nothing). Does he succeed? Or does the credo, by which he hopes to portray the type, lead him ironically to a revelation of the individual?